The president of a Florida university won the ire of much his student body on Sunday with an email that suggested sexual assaults can be blamed on booze and promiscuity.

Eckerd College president Dr. Donald Eastman, 69, told the St. Petersburg college's 1,800 students to avoid rape by abstaining from casual sex and avoiding alcohol.

Outrage: President of St. Petersburgh's Eckerd College, Dr. Donald Eastman, has infuriated students with an 'open letter' that blames booze and casual sex on rape

'Virtue in the area of sexuality is its own reward, and has been held in high esteem in Western Culture for millennia because those who are virtuous are happier as well as healthier,' Eastman wrote.

The email appeared to be in response to a growing national conversation about rape--and more specifically, the sexual assault problems on many college campuses--but not everyone found the president's words helpful.

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Alumnus Joshua K. Wheeler, who started a Change.org petition urging President Eastman to address the controversy, agreed.

'I believe that laying the blame solely at the feet of the two issues you mentioned is an injustice to those affected by sexual assault, and will not solve the problem,' wrote Keeler, whose petition had over 70 signers by Thursday morning.

Few, if any, students, have come out to support the president's letter. However, some appear to believe he meant well, at least.

Eastman told the Gulf Coast school's 1,800 undergrads that 'virtue in the area of sexuality is its own reward, and has been held in high esteem in Western Culture for millennia'

'I don't think he meant any harm, but he didn't put it very well,' student Erica Worth told WTSP. 'He used the words "casual sex" but that doesn't necessarily have anything to do with sexual assault. He just used the wrong words.'

Specific to casual sex, the president wrote:

'No one's culture or character or understanding is improved by casual sex, and the physical and psychological risks to both genders are profound.'

In an interview with the Tampa Bay Times, Eastman largely just restated what he'd already said in the letter.

In response to the backlash, he only challenged his critics: if its not booze and floosiness, what does cause rape?